{ Analyze Your Web Site for Feeling and Effectiveness
What makes a web site effective?
Bottom Line: A web site should make Money for the business
Buying Decisions are made with emotion
Research shows that we base buying decisions on emotional response. Buy now, justify later.
Emotional response comes first, and then we rationalize that decision. (post-hoc rationalization)
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The earlier you establish an emotional connection the more difficult it becomes for consumers to choose another product based on performance.
Testing for Emotion
Ask: How do we want people to feel about our business? What emotions might they be looking to fulfill?
Gather a testing group.
Show them your web site. It is not important that they understand what you do.
(Any score 8 and above is good)
Researching Emotion
List target emotions for your site/business
Pick a couple of those emotions and ask “What industries try to convey those feelings?”
List specific businesses in those industries.
Analyze those business websites for FEELING in each of these areas:
Header
Navigation
Body
Whole page look
Other
Communicating Emotion to a Designer
YOU do the above research and give your results to the design team.
Don’t tell them what to do, just what you want. Let them do their Job!
Share that feeling is what’s most important to you.
Buying Decisions are backed up with Logic
Make what you do very obvious
USP – List UNIQUE SELLING POINTS in obvious clear language – NO corpro-speak
Client quotes above the fold
Brand associative logos
Usability vs. the Appearance of Usability
The appearance of usability is about feeling
Actual usability is about “can they find it?”
Usability in a Nutshell
Can users identify and easily understand categories and labels? Do they know what everything’s for?
Usability Tips
Obvious grouped categories of navigation
Navigation Labels you doing have to think about or explain
Banner Blindness
“Learn More” vs. get more info
No internal jargon
Buttons must look “click- able”
The look (feelings!) does matter. Sometimes a balance must be found
Appearance of Usability
Chunks! (5-7) Visually separate your chunks with
Proximity
Titles
Color / graphics
Size
Writing for the Web
Short sentences & paragraphs
Straight to the point
NO flowery language or business speak or jargon. Talk like a real person.
USP Heavy
Title your paragraphs